Good riddance to ousted chairman Cathy Adams and thank the Lord for Tea Partiers. I’m told that up to 30 percent of the Republican Convention attendees were first-timers, and they were not the least bit interested in the culture-war rants that have so long dominated the festivities. Rather, it is was the state party’s debt that got the attention of this new generation of fiscal hawks.
FrontBurnervian Dave Cary gives his take, after the jump.
So now the Republican State Convention is over and to the surprise of some, we have a new state party Chair, Steve Munisteri. Cathie Adams, Rick Perry’s chosen one, lost to Muniserti, 59% to 41%, In the Park Cities, Senate District 16, the response was a landslide. It was almost “Cathie who?” Cathie did well in El Paso; it was much more even in Senate District 8, Collin County. Â Cathie became the first Republican Texas state Chair to lose in recent memory.
Now I know, like, and respect Cathie Adams. Cathie helped us get Senate Bill 1440 vetoed which would have allowed the state to force its way into our homes with almost no basis but an anonymous complaint and take our children. It would have also allowed the state to take our children from school without our knowledge and little basis and make minute and immodest examinations of them. To put this in perspective, Jodie Laudenberg voted in favor of SB 1440. Cathie has been a friend of Parental Rights.
However, I can’t help but see how indicative this is. Cathie was not selected by the electorate but was appointed by Rick Perry. She spent most of her time strengthening her relationships with some of the more powerful political groups. She has been, unfortunately, linked to the former Chair’s support of breaking the rules at the previous state convention for special interests. That problem got nasty and was never properly aired with the electorate.
In contrast, Munisteri was personally campaigning from the very beginning. He attended both the Reagan Day Dinner and the Lincoln Day Dinner. He recruited an army of young, multi-racial grass roots supporters, many of whom were out in force tonight. He bypassed the powerful groups and went straight to the source.
There is a lesson here. There is a growing force of energetic small government people within the Republican Party. They go under many names: Tea Partiers, Constitutionalists, Real Conservatives, etc. They are really a number of people with the same ideas looking for a home and a candidate. They are inexperienced but they have heart and they have idealism and they will prevail within the Republican Party. Most of the stereotypical insults we hear about them are wrong. They used to be laughed at, now they are scorned, next election they will be feared.
We still run into people who vote for questionable party incumbents no matter what. We run into people who think that people should be elected because “they paid their dues” as if an office is personal property to be inherited. We run into people who explain losses as due to demographics. These same people have not yet figured out that things have changed permanently. This in spite of all the incumbents who have been losing lately.
